Tamoxifen

This drug is nothing less than horrendous. 80% of women come off this drug within months of starting it because of the side effects.

I was put onto tamoxifen in 2015 for five years to keep the estrogen out of my body as my breast cancer was estrogen positive. They say the first couple of years are the most important for being on tamoxifen as that is when it has a higher risk of coming back. As the years go in they say the risk lessons with taking this drug.

But because of the side effects so many women struggle with it. Not only has your body been through hell and back but then your given this drug and it starts all again.

What Tamoxifen is used for

Tamoxifen belongs to a group of drugs called anti-oestrogen. It is used to treat breast cancer and certain forms of infertility.

You cannot take tamoxifen if you or your family has a history of blood clots or a known inherited condition leading  to an increased risk of clotting. 

Like all medicines, this medicine can cause side effects, although not everybody gets them. Your told if any of them occur your to stop taking the tablets and go straight to hospital A & E department. 

* An allergic reaction, swelling of the lips, face or neck leading to severe difficulty in breathing. Skin rash or hives.

* Blistering/bleeding of the lips, eyes, nose and genitals.

* Swelling or pain of the calf or leg, chest pain, being short of breath or suddenly feeling weak.

* Symptoms of a stroke. Sudden onset of the following. Weakness of the arms and legs, being unable to move the arms or legs, difficulty speaking, walking, or holding things, or difficulty thinking. These symptoms are caused by a reduced blood supply to the brain. 

* Abnormal vaginal bleeding including menstual irregularities.

* Vaginal discharge.

* A feeling of discomfort in the lower tummy (pelvis) such as pain or pressure.

These effects may mean that there have been changes to the lining of your womb (the endometrium). Sometimes these effects are serious and could include cancer of the endometrium/uterus. They can happen during or after treatment with Tamoxifen.

* Nausea.

* Fluid retention.

* Skin rash.

* Hot flushes.

* Amaemia. This is where you have too few red blood cells.

* Changes in vision die to cataracts or changes to the retina of your eye.

* Increased amounts of fats in your blood.

* Leg cramps.

* Changes in the womb (including changing in the lining and benign growths).

* Headache.

* Feeling light-headed.

* Itching of the genitals.

* Thinning of the hair.

* Vomiting.

* Diarrhoea.

* Constipation.

* Changes in blood tests of liver function.

* Formation of fatty liver cells.

* Muscle pain.

* Blood problems. This can make you bruise more easily, get serious infections, or feel very tired or breathless.

* Changes to your vision and difficulty seeing.

* Swelling of the pancreas. This may cause moderate to sever pain in the stomach.

* Changes in the amount of calcium in your blood. The signs may include feeling very sick, being sick a lot or being thirsty.

* Inflammation of the lungs. (Feeling short of breath and coughing). 

* Liver cirrhosis.

* Problems with the nerve that connects your retina to your brain.

* Changes to the cornea of you eye.

* Swelling of the optic nerve.

* On occasions more severe liver diseases have occurred from which some patients have died. These include inflammation of the liver, liver cell damage, reduced bile formation, and failure of the liver. Symptoms may include a general feeling of being unwell, with or without jaundice.

* Damage to blood vessels causing red or purple dots in the skin.

* Severe skin disorder. The symptoms include redness, blistering and peeling.

* Cells only found in the lining of the womb found elsewhere in your body, cysts on the ovaries, and cancer.

* Non-cancerous mass in the inner lining of the vagina. 

* Bone pain. 

So with reading through the list you can see why it is that 80% of women come off the drug. It’s hard enough having gone through the operations, chemotherapy and then your thrown into all these side effects at the same time as the radiotherapy. 

I have stuck it out and just kept going pushing through the side effects. However, now I am in and out of hospital with the gynaecological department as my uterus is enlarged, I have bleeding ( with isn’t menstual as the chemo pushed me through menopause) I have had scans, internal cameras, I’m now on the waiting list to get an appointment for a pelvic scan, so its a waiting game to find out what’s going on.